Aadhar debate: Can government for greater good encroach upon citizen's privacy?

In the last week of June, a 24-year-old, soon-to-be law graduate from Nagpur (his name is irrelevant) tried applying for a post in the Territorial Army. He couldn't. As it turned out, his Aadhaar (taken several years ago) was cancelled, and nobody - Aadhaar customer care or the Centre - could explain why. Since he is not the type to take to social media to express outrage, he went about getting his Aadhaar reinstated; but the damage was done. It is just a matter of time enough people realise that they have been hard done by just because their Aadhaar wasn't working when it was supposed to, and for no fault of theirs.

But in the Supreme Court, in May, the government painted a different picture. Linking Aadhaar with PAN will give the taxman a better grip on tax evasion, it argued, since a person will not be able to distribute his income among different accounts through different PANs - a deceptively attractive argument. And before it is denounced, it must be accepted that the move has jolted many professionals such as lawyers and accountants who could hitherto receive money in different accounts. However, the quantum of such jugglery is still limited (how many PAN cards will an accountant have to create?). Instead, clients will now be asked to deposit money in their mothers' accounts, or companies/trusts set up for the purpose. That apart, should it not be asked how does it matter which account money resides in, because as long as it is through the bank, somebody is paying tax (though you could argue that minimum exemption limits and lower tax slabs give a slight advantage).?

Once that argument is demolished, the folly of the government's argument becomes apparent. Or perhaps, their ulterior motive. Most honest (or, if you will, lazy) taxpayers don't mind the tax department tracking their bank accounts closely, if that was the only purpose for which Aadhaar was used. But when that same tracking system can also be used to monitor the jobs one applies to, the travel one undertakes, or the people one meets, then there is a serious violation in privacy.